Dragons and Heroes
by Rill with a view
Summary: A mother of twins finds shopping for her children's shoes to be a surprisingly pleasant experience - thanks to the shop assistant...


Author's Note: This short story is my first follow-up (though it's not a sequel) to one of my other stories - _Something Worse_.

 My basic idea in writing this collection of stories is to imagine each Doctor, in turn, as just an ordinary human living in late 20th century Britain. That being the case, what kind of life would each Doctor be living? _Something Worse_ dealt with the 1st Doctor so, naturally, this time I've turned my attention to the 2nd Doctor.

I do not own the characters of the Doctor or any of his companions. I have however, due to one foot being wider than the other, had arduous ordeals in shoe shops during my childhood… Please R&R.

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Dragons and Heroes

Mrs. Crower was feeling as though her arms were about to be wrenched out of their sockets. The twins were being a total nuisance, one on each hand tugging her in different directions, and she still had not been able to find any suitable shoes for Polly. The kids were excited. They were to start school in just three days time and they genuinely seemed to be looking forward to it. While many of their contemporaries were at the very least somewhat apprehensive about starting school it seemed that both Polly and Ben were taking it all in their stride. Well, that was most probably due to them being twins. They had each other and that must lessen the worry embarking upon this new adventure.

The morning had gotten off to a good start. Firstly Mrs. Crower had taken Ben and Polly to the school's recommended clothing shop to purchase their school uniforms. Polly had been especially enthusiastic when she saw the blue pullover. Blue was her favourite colour. Ben had not cared either way. He cared far less about clothes than his sister did and just regarded the uniform as a necessary part of preparing for school. It was the getting there and making new friends which appealed to him. Mrs. Crower felt the pull on her right arm increase as Ben slowed up to gaze longingly through the window of toy shop. Though they had tired her out, the kids had basically behaved pretty well so far today and had she more time available before they needed to catch the bus home then Mrs. Crower might well have indulged Ben and Polly a small treat from the toy shop. There was still the matter of the shoes though.

As per usual, she had been able to get Ben fixed up with suitable shoes in the very first shoe shop that they had entered. It was a source of irritation to both kids that Polly was so difficult to find shoes for. For Polly, who had one foot slightly narrower than the other, it was an irritant that her choice of shoes was so restricted. She was a very fashion conscious little girl for a four year old. That boded expensive for the future, thought Mrs. Crower. For Ben the irritation came from having to be dragged through many shoe shops after his needs had already been met. Shoe shops are dull places for little boys to spend much time in. He would inevitably become fractious, and quite soon, if Polly was not sorted.

Glancing up at the town hall clock, Mrs. Crower saw that she had less than an hour remaining to complete her mission and walk back to the bus station. Straight ahead of her was a shoe shop which she did not recall ever having noticed before. It had to be worth a try.

As with most shoe shops, the children's section was upstairs so, pulling the kids close to her side, she made her way up the staircase at the back of the shop.

The children's section was totally devoid of customers apart from them. That seemed rather strange to Mrs. Crower. Surely this was the busiest time of year for any children's shoes retailer? Then she caught sight of the shop assistant. He seemed oddly out of place with his surroundings. He was a small, dark haired, little man who appeared to be somewhere in his late 40s. He was dressed in old fashioned baggy trousers, a strange frock coat and a spotted bowtie. The bowtie sat loosely below the collar of his open necked shirt as though it had been pinned there as a sudden afterthought concession to the idea of respectability. The assistant looked up as the family entered and, rubbing his hands with such exaggerated glee as though he had been awaiting this moment all his life, he advanced towards them.

"Oh my," he gushed. "What lovely children you have. How might I help you?"

Mrs. Crower gestured down at her daughter's feet, freeing Ben's hand as she did so.

"They start school on Monday, I'm trying to find some suitable school shoes for Polly here. Her feet are quite… quite special," she finished diplomatically.

The assistant spoke directly to Polly.

"Ah, well we do our very best for special feet here. Yes, we have a huge range of styles for even the most special little girls. Would you like to take a seat.. er, Polly isn't it? I'll go into that little room over there and I'll be back before you know it with lots of nice pretty shoes for you to try on. Would you like that?"

Polly was beaming widely by now. She liked this funny little man and his strange way of speaking.

Ben was less impressed. He was bored and the prospect of watching his sister try on lots of pairs of shoes did not seem like a fun way to pass the time. The assistant caught sight of the sullen look on the boy's face.

"We can't have sad faces in here you know," he grinned at Ben and pulled a funny face. Despite himself, Ben dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"That's better. Now, how would you like a ride on our magic horse?"

The assistant took Ben by the hand and led him to the back of the shop where there stood the biggest, most impressive, rocking horse that any of the family had ever seen. Ben eagerly reached out to stroke its mane. The assistant brought over a small set of steps to help Ben mount the horse. He helped him to put his feet in the stirrups and then handed him the bell encrusted reins.

"Are you ready? This horse is usually just for bigger boys. Bigger boys and heroes. I think you're a big enough boy to give it a go though aren't you? Perhaps you might even be a hero?"

Ben nodded happily.

"What's heroes?" he asked as the assistant set the horse rocking gently.

"Ah well a hero is a really, really, good person. They're like you but are often a bit bigger. They go out and fight dragons mostly, you know."

"Dragons!" Ben's eyes widened. "There are no dragons here."

The assistant shook his head solemnly. "There are always dragons to be fought if you know where to find them. There might be one behind those shelves over there. It might be an invisible dragon. Dragons are cunning creatures. Never underestimate dragons."

The assistant gave the rocking horse another little push and the bells on the reins began to chime gently. Polly looked across from her seat.

"Bells scare dragons away," she stated authoritatively.

Ben looked crestfallen at her words.

"I want to fight the dragons!"

The assistant shuffled on his feet for a second, a thoughtful look crossed his face, as though searching for the answer. Then it seemed to come to him.

"Well these are very special bells which dragons can't hear. All of the townsfolk will hear them though, and they'll line the streets to cheer the hero as he rides out to battle the invisible dragon."

The assistant turned around and winked at Mrs. Crower. Talking her cue seamlessly, Mrs. Crower rose to her feet and cheered.

"Hooray for brave Sir Ben the fearless dragon fighter!"

The assistant gave her the thumbs up sign .

"Now, I'll go and find those shoes."

Mrs. Crower mouthed a silent thanks to the assistant as he passed her on his way to the storeroom. Polly sat by her side in eager anticipation of trying on some pretty shoes and, behind her, Ben was riding out into battle to fight the invisible dragon which lurked behind the shelves. Both of her twins were happy. The strange little man certainly had a way with children.

THE END


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